Human traffickers often post photos of their victims in hotel rooms. This app is asking people to take photos of their hotel rooms, so analysts can determine where the photos were taken. https://spectrum.ieee.org/traffickcam-human-trafficking-hotel-ai?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

Scientists have developed a method of measuring heart rate through wifi, bypassing the need to wear any equipment on your body. It works by filtering our noise and detecting the change in signal amplitude between heartbeats. https://spectrum.ieee.org/wi-fi-signal-heartbeat-detection?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

Scientists have found a simple way for any conventional smartphone camera to serve as a hyperspectral sensor, reporting what molecules are in its photo. Identifying chemicals present in photos could be used in medical diagnostics, distinguishing authentic versus counterfeit products, monitoring air quality, and non-destructive analysis of pigments in artwork. https://spectrum.ieee.org/hyperspectral-imaging?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

Computer #programming is, at its core, creative. If you’ve lost your spark, try checking out one of Daniel Temkin’s 44 esoteric coding languages. It’s not about making sense, it’s about stretching the limits of what a programming language can be, and what a community of programmers can do together. https://spectrum.ieee.org/esoteric-programming-languages-daniel-temkin?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

AI lies to us. That’s why Jaime Fernández Fisac created a “bullshit index” to track how and why AI is misleading its users. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-misinformation-llm-bullshit?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

A new solar panel is here that concentrates the sun’s light onto smaller areas. It extracted about 50 percent more power than previous designs. It’s also cheaper, using less than one-thousandth of the expensive semiconductor materials required by normal panels. https://spectrum.ieee.org/solar-panels-micro-cpv?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

New grid-scale battery sites in Scotland are stabilizing the power supply with their ability to quickly inject power and current during emergencies, just like fossil fuel plants do. One site already proved its worth when it leapt into action after a wood-burning generator unexpectedly shut down. https://spectrum.ieee.org/grid-scale-battery-scotland?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

GPS systems can be jammed and spoofed. Quantum gravity sensors can't be fooled. A prototype tested in Australia provided a ship with accurate navigation with no GPS sensing for 144 hours. https://spectrum.ieee.org/quantum-gravity-sensor?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

JPEG’s resilience in the digital world isn’t just about image quality. How does this image format still rule the web? https://spectrum.ieee.org/jpeg-image-format-history?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fedica-Mastodon-Daily-Pipeline

When Sojourner went to Mars, Marie Curie, its less-famous twin, stayed home on Earth. NASA used Marie Curie to mimic Sojourner’s movements in a Mars-like setting, testing algorithms and strategies. https://spectrum.ieee.org/mars-pathfinder-rover